


The Arms Of A Stranger

by robertstanion



Category: Black Friday - Team StarKid
Genre: Angst, Backstory, F/M, Family Figure, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:55:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23755741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/robertstanion/pseuds/robertstanion
Summary: "My mentor, Wilbur Cross, stepped through this portal and came out a raving lunatic. He pledged his undying loyalty to the forces within and disappeared soon after. What he didn’t know is that he’d left his family of two alone with a special little girl along the way."Colonel Wilbur Cross, an inspiration to many, was an amazing guy...until his hands fell into the fate of a God.
Relationships: John McNamara/Xander Lee, Wilbur Cross/Lex Foster's Mom
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	The Arms Of A Stranger

**Author's Note:**

> General Icacks is one of my ocs and i love him
> 
> ANYWAYS this has been in my mind for some time and does revolve around the theory that Hannah is Wilbur Cross' daughter, so I went with it!

_April 14 th 2004:_

“Point your aim straight forward.” Wilbur Cross said and turned his mentee to the side, pressing himself against the younger recruit. He took his mentee’s hands and moved his hands in front of him, turning the mentee’s head over his shoulder. “Now focus.” He said and let go, hearing a clear shot. The central piece of the target ripped and the bullet hit the wall. Wilbur grinned as his mentee turned around with a wide smile on his face, his blue eyes flashing with pride.

“I did it!”

“And that’s your training complete. Private John McNamara, welcome to the team.” Wilbur said and saluted him. He watched John’s eyes move away from his mentor and away as the realisation set in.

“I-I didn’t think I could do it!” He said before he looked back up to Wilbur. “And I did it! I’m a Private, sir! I’m a private!” John said and smiled again as Wilbur held his arms out to the younger man, John willingly accepting the offer. He ran into his mentor’s arms and was quickly wrapped up in a hug. Wilbur couldn’t be prouder of him. He’d watched John flourish into a confident young man. And even though John was just the age of 17, he was incredible, and Wilbur had seen that from their first meeting. It had been a Saturday when General Icacks had requested for Wilbur to take up the offer of training a kid he’d found on the streets. He’d stood in the general’s office to see the teen, head hung low, probably ashamed, probably scared. He was dishevelled and it was pretty damn clear. His skin was covered in bruises, and he wasn’t looking up. For these reasons, he’d hardly considered turning the chance down. He’d saluted to Icacks and waited until he was out of the room before he walked over to John and crouched down. He smiled slightly. “Good evening, John. My name is Colonel Wilbur Cross. I’m gonna be your mentor for now. Why don’t you come with me and I’ll get you set up?”

John nodded and looked at Wilbur, giving the two the first chance to see each other. Wilbur noticed how tired the younger man was, and his heart clenched with sympathy. He took John’s hands and looked into his eyes. “You’re safe here at PEIP.” He smiled gently and John looked away.

“Sorry…” He said quietly. Wilbur tilted his head.

“Why are you sorry, kid?”

“I…don’t particularly want to be alone tonight…” he said and kicked the floor. Wilbur bit his lip before coming up with a solution.

“I’ve got a spare room at my place. I’m sure Icacks wouldn’t mind a new cadet coming to stay over just this once.”

John looked at his new mentor with wide eyes. “You’d be okay with me being there?”

Wilbur nodded. “Come on, I’ll take you back, you rest up, and training starts tomorrow.” 

* * *

Over the next few months, he’d been training John at any spare chance that was thrown at him. And finally, John’s training was complete. It felt amazing to share this moment with the younger man. John had grown to look up to Wilbur, and Wilbur had learned to admire John’s bravery. And it was here, in the middle of the firing rank, did he realise that John meant something more to him than just a mentee. A son, maybe, who could tell. Still, he excused the session and worked on going home.

Saturday was his day off for that week. He found himself at the bar the day after he’d finished John’s training, just to treat himself on the achievement. He ordered a beer and looked at the bartender. She had dark brown hair, hazel eyes and a kind smile. He raised an eyebrow and ordered another round. Wilbur couldn’t help but tell himself how beautiful she was. He wasn’t one to want a relationship; his excuse was that if he got attached and died in the force, he’d end up hurting more people which was the opposite of what he wanted. Never before had he ended up entangled in a relationship. But this bartender was different and he could tell. Cross had been told multiple times before he was attractive. He’d been told he was a ladies man and that he was throwing his advantage away of getting a girl even from a young age, but it hadn’t been what he’d wanted. He’d wanted to pursue a courier and make himself known in the world. He wanted to do that alone…until today. Until he saw the way that girl swayed her hips, until he saw the way, until he saw the way her eyes flicked back to him while serving other men drinks. Then he knew she was different. So, he ordered another.

“And what would your name be?” She asked as she took his drink, bending down to get another beer for the man. He raised an eyebrow. He was never one to be asked, always one to ask.

“Colonel Wilbur Cross. I work for the United States Military.” She stood back up and raised an eyebrow at his words. “And what about you?”

“Lindsay. Lindsay Foster.” She said and leaned across the bar. “I like men in uniform, and you, Mr Cross, are no exception. Care to come back to mine?”

“When do you get off shift?”

“In 10 minutes.” She winked and he took a sip before she spoke up again. “Oh, and I have a four year old. Don’t worry about her. She’s being taken care of by the ‘sitter.” Lindsay said and walked away.

The 10 minutes flew past and Cross was driving her home. The four year old was asleep on the couch and there wasn’t a sitter in sight. Usually, Cross would have been concerned, but with the alcohol messing around with his brain, he wasn’t. Lindsay guided him to her room and they called it a night.

Only then did a relationship develop. People noticed his attitude change towards his work. He’d always been enthusiastic, always been a cheerful guy, but after meeting Lindsay he always walked with a spring in his step and greeted people with a smile. As well as gaining more confidence with his girlfriend, John had become more than just a private to him, but instead he was ‘son.’ On top of that, he was an amazing father figure to Lex, the little girl who was asleep on the couch that night. The poor thing’s father had walked out when he found out that Lindsay had fallen pregnant, so it had been up to her to raise Lex. The two Foster’s were incredibly grateful for Wilbur. So, shortly after Lindsay and Lex moved in with Wilbur, Lindsay quit her job as a bartender meaning Wilbur would be paying for all three of them. It didn’t matter seeing as Lex rarely asked for things and he had a small apartment so rent wasn’t too bad.

* * *

Two years later Cross and Lindsay married. This had been 2005 and Lindsay chose to keep her maiden name Lex had been 6 and John had been the best man. It had been perfect. He wished he could have said things had stayed on the same level of happiness as he liked, but instead life fucked with him badly in the next twenty four months.

* * *

It started in early 2007 when they’d hired a theoretical physicist by the name of Xander Lee who had quickly gotten eyes for John. Cross, seeing John as a son-like figure, took to scaring Xander immediately. He often wrapped his arm around John in a protective manner and guided him away from the physicist. He knew that Lee was bad news and he was only doing this for John’s sake. John always told Cross that he was fine, but Cross wasn’t letting his son-figure get with someone like Xander. Of course, 2007 was the year they lost General Icacks in the field meaning PEIP didn’t have a General, or a leader. With a lot of encouragement, Cross took up the offer as a temporary leader. The sudden change had thrown him off. His smiles faded and were soon transformed to frowns. He walked and ice seemed to follow him everywhere. People tried to speak to him like they used to, but they found out the hard way Cross wasn’t the man he used to be. Alongside the new position and the added stress, it meant he scared a lot more people than _just_ Xander nowadays. The most common person being-

“Sir?” John asked at the door of Wilbur’s office, causing Wilbur to halt his studies. “Uh, Xander wanted me to-“

“If Xander wants to do anything, he can ask me himself. He’s old enough. He doesn’t need a messenger.” The Colonel said, not looking up from the form he was filling in.

“But he’s given me the code-“

“It doesn’t matter, John! You know to keep away from him!”

“Sir, with all due respect, I don’t need protecting.” He said and shifted awkwardly. With that, Cross dropped the pen and looked up. After that he stood up and walked over to the younger man, snatching the sheets out of John’s hands. His eyes scanned over the code and he felt drawn towards the portal frame.

They’d been working on accessing a new dimension for the entirety of that year. They’d built the frame, but were now in need of a code to open it. And here it was, in Cross’ hands, the right person for the job. With a grin and a glint in his eye, he walked over to the frame, which had been kept in his office for security reasons, and entered the code. Meanwhile, John had bit his lip and uttered a, “Colonel Cross that’s a bad idea.” This had been enough to anger Cross more for when he turned to face his mentee, his eyes were that of a madman’s.

“John, my boy, you don’t understand! We can get answers if someone goes in that portal! Answers the team have been seeking for all year! Isn’t that what you want?”

“Well, yes but-“

“No buts, John. You said yes. I shall be entering that portal and discovering what is inside.”

“Sir, the suits haven’t come yet! The others got destroyed in the attack that killed Icacks! Just wait until the new stock arrive because without it, the portal will tear you to pieces!” John rushed forward and put a hand on his mentor’s arm, which was shrugged off with no hesitation. “We can get you a suit and-“

“Who’s we?” He asked sternly. After a few moments of silence, he heard a mumble come from John and cleared his own throat, persuading John to speak up. More moments of silence followed before the young man spoke.

“Me and Xander…”

Cross laughed at that. Of course it was him and Xander. It wasn’t John at all. “Exactly. So until you two have your checks in order, I’ll be leaving.” He entered the final digit of the code into the frame and watched the portal hiss to life. “Now, John. In case I don’t make it, I want you to tell my wife that I love her. I want you to tell Lex that her father loves her too. And before you start saying some heroic bullshit, my soul will be remembered.” He began walking backwards into the portal as he saluted. “Godspeed, McNamara.” And with that, he let the portal consume him.

He landed in a dark realm. Around him was a green glow. He felt no pain, which was surprising seeing as the testing subjects they’d used had all come out immensely hurt. But he felt no pain. He called out once, twice, thrice before he heard a giggle resembling that of a child’s. He thought it was a way of manipulation to try and get him to give in to the eldritch force as it sounded very similar to Lex’s laugh. He spun around to see the figure.

“Uncle Wiley! We’ve been waiting for you!” The green figure spoke at last in a playful tone.

“What are you?” he asked, tilting his head, intrigued.

“My name is Wiggly! And you, Wilby Cwoss, are my uncle! You are the powerful! You are the father!”

“…What?” He asked and took a step. The figure lurched at him and bought Cross in close, pressing it’s tentacle-like arms to his temples. His eyes rolled back into his head and it was then he was given all the answers he’d ever died. The truth about Lex, how John and Xander had been in a relationship longer than Cross had anticipated…the universe’s darkest secrets.

When he was let go, he saw the glowing green of the portal again. Foaming at the mouth, he jumped out. He snapped his head to the left to see things pushed off of his desk. He must have been quieter than he thought when he came back through for John and Xander were still very shirtless and still caressing each other in a gentle grip. For this reason, Wilbur did what a good father would. He grabbed Xander and threw him at the wall. The younger two hardly had time to process what happened as a lighter green glow filled the room the second time around. John sat up on the desk and pulled his shirt back on. “What the fuck?!” John shouted at Cross and jumped off, running to Xander’s side. “Zee? Hey, hey, breathe. I’ve got you.” He said and crouched beside him, pulling his lover against his chest. He looked at Cross and shook his head. “I can’t believe you. You didn’t listen to me again! I always knew the truth, I knew this would happen!”

“But it’s better this way.” Cross said, followed by a maniacal grin. “This is what needs to happen, son.” He pointed a finger at Xander, who was clearly in a bad state. “He needs to die.”

“You’re lying!” John screamed, Xander wincing at the noise. Worry crossed John’s face as he held Xander tighter. “Zee hang on. I’ll take you to the infirmary-“ When John looked back up, Cross was gone, and the portal was spitting green sparks. After a few seconds, a sharp pain filled his head. He dropped Xander and curled up against the wall. He held his head and shut his eyes. Even then, he could see Cross standing in front of Wiggly. He gasped when he came to, Xander smiling tiredly. John picked him back up and hugged him tighter. Things went south even quicker.

* * *

Later on that year, Lindsay gave birth to another little girl. As the girl grew up, she began to speak of a man in a stained denim jacket with slicked back hair with soft blue eyes. Lindsay, still mourning her husband’s loss, refused to believe her daughter could see Wilbur. She turned to the drink and the drugs. The first time she came home drunk properly, she took it out on the youngest girl, named Hannah. Lex had stepped in to protect her sister. The abuse only got worse as Lindsay lost herself to drugs.

When Cross lost his sanity, so did the ones who cared about him the most. Lindsay became a prisoner multiple times, John threw himself into work and became overly protective of Xander, and Lex began drugs when she started high school. But it was Hannah who concerned PEIP the most. They couldn’t let Cross get to her.

But maybe it was too late.


End file.
